Achilles Heel
by Chanteuse
Summary: He’d tried to sleep, but scenes from earlier kept running through his head. Booth knew he’d never felt anything as intense as the emotion he’d felt when that gun had been pressed against the back of her head BB


**A/N: Thanks to my beta OddEnthusiasms, you can all enjoy this fic minus the mistakes! Review please!!**

**Achilles Heel**

"You gonna be okay, Bones?"

She nodded. The gesture was so small it was barely there. Booth was hardly convinced. He studied her closely, and noticed what the day's events had done to her physical appearance. Dark circles had formed underneath her eyes from lack of sleep. It was past one in the morning and he knew that she had barely slept the night before. She looked worn out and weary. Her shoulders were slumped as if they couldn't support the weight of what had happened that night, and her eyes were somehow duller, lacking any spark they usually held.

He knew she was trying to put on a brave face, for he knew that it was easier for her to pretend everything was alright than to let herself be seen by others as vulnerable. He wanted badly for her to open up to him. For her to let him know that she was frightened-because he knew she was- and to just let her emotions go for once. A selfish part of him hoped always that it would be _him_ that she would need, and that _he _would be the one she would open up to. He wanted her to open up to him because he needed to know that he wasn't the only one scared out of his mind that she had just almost died.

But he wasn't going to push her or force her to do anything. He knew she would come around when she wanted to.

"Okay. Get some sleep, Temperance. It's late." He said softly.

"Okay." Was her weak reply.

He stared at her for a long moment; thinking-hoping-that she'd say something more. When she didn't, he turned to leave.

"Booth." She called.

He turned around perhaps a little too quickly. "Yeah, Bones?"

"Thank you." She said. And he knew that she meant it. Coming sincerely from her meant a lot to him.

He nodded. "Goodnight, Bones." He turned to leave again.

Her voice once again called him back. "Wait."

He turned around and met her eyes. What he saw was vulnerability, and he hated it, even though on some level he was glad it was there.

"Just…stay? Please stay?" She sounded like a small child. He wondered what had happened to his partner, as this wasn't like her at all. Perhaps it had just been too much for her to deal with in one night.

"Okay." He said, with an expression akin to sympathetic on his face. She didn't want to be alone tonight, and his company was something he couldn't bring himself to deny her.

Hours later, Booth lay tossing and turning on Brennan's surprisingly comfortable couch. His body, however sleep deprived, just couldn't settle down. His mind was moving a mile a minute and no matter how much he willed it, his thoughts just wouldn't slow down. He'd tried to sleep, but scenes from earlier kept running through his head. Booth knew he'd never felt anything as intense as the emotion he'd felt when that gun had been pressed against the back of her head.

Her door was open further down the hallway. He could hear her breathing. He loved that sound, the sound of her lungs inhaling and exhaling. The sound that let him know that she was still alive.

A few feet away, the clock ticked tediously.

Booth sighed and gave up on trying to sleep. He knew it wasn't going to happen.

Suddenly, he felt an inexplicable need to be near her. He didn't know why, but somehow the sound of her breathing wasn't enough for him.

He crept stealthily down the hall to her bedroom. She lay sleeping peacefully on her back. The moonlight shone through the window onto her face, and Booth knew how cliché it was, but to him she'd never looked as lovely.

He knew that he should turn around and go back outside to her couch. He was crossing so many boundaries by being inside her bedroom. He knew she'd kick his ass if she woke up and found him there.

But there was something about being there and watching her sleep in the intimacy of her own bedroom. The audacity of it made him want to be there even more, even though he knew it was wrong. It was addicting and it was delicious in a way that it shouldn't have been between partners.

He crossed the room to her bedside and sat gently on the carpeted floor. He watched her, enthralled.

He closed his eyes and let himself fall back into everything that had happened to them over the past few hours.

The moments assaulted him, one by one.

_Going to arrest the murderer. _

_The murderer holding Brennan tightly against him, the barrel of his gun against the back of her head. _

_A defenseless Brennan. Even Brennan didn't fight against guns. _

_Feeling powerless with the knowledge that this man could kill his partner in a split second. _

_Drawing his own weapon, even though it was useless. She was in the line of fire, and he wouldn't risk her dying by his hand. _

_The raw fear in Brennan's eyes as her assailant threatened to kill her in front of him. _

_The all-consuming dread as he cocked his gun. _

_Brennan squeezing her eyes shut against what she thought was coming. _

_Her scream._

_The gunshot. _

_His scream. _

_He shut his eyes. He didn't want to see it._

_There was the sound of a body falling to the ground, and then there was silence for what seemed like forever. _

_Then, he heard a sound that he swore had been sent from the heavens: his partner's gentle cry of relief. ._

_His eyes shot open quicker than lightening. She was alive. Right in front of him she was alive. He ran to her and was able to catch her before she collapsed. He held her and comforted her and thanked God a million times over that she was still living. He pressed her tightly to him until she ceased shaking in his arms. _

The man had done away with himself. Pulled the gun from Brennan's head, held it to his own and pulled the trigger at the last minute. And Booth blamed himself for what he thought had been a completely unnecessary and preventable situation. Both of them had known that the man was clinically insane, so he should have been more careful. He should have called for backup. He should have protected her.

It wasn't like they weren't used to the danger. Her life had been threatened countless times before. Each time had been extremely hard on him between the 'what ifs' and blaming himself for whatever was happening. But none of the other times had compared to this. His chest constricted each time he thought about it.

The realization was there this time.

She was it. She was his weakness. She was his Achilles Heel. She would be his downfall, he knew. He wouldn't have it any other way.

She stirred next to him, mumbled something incoherent. She frowned in her sleep, and Booth suspected she was having some unpleasant dream. She grew more agitated the longer she dreamt. Without even thinking, Booth reached out and caressed her forehead, as if gently smoothing the distress out of her dream.

She stirred and Booth froze. She was surely going to beat him up.

"Booth?" she said groggily. "What are you…" she trailed of.

"Shh. Bones, go back to sleep." He shushed her before she could awaken fully and ask questions. "I'm right here."

She nodded. Soon her breathing evened out once more and she was lost in slumber.

He knew it had taken a lot of courage for her to ask him to stay with her. She wasn't used to relying on people.

But what she didn't know was that he needed her, too.

**FINIS**

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